The Government of the British Virgin Islands, under the leadership of the Honorable D. Orlando Smith, is encouraging all business owners and employees…
The Government of the British Virgin Islands, under the leadership of the Honorable D. Orlando Smith, is encouraging all business owners and employees in the British Virgin Islands` hospitality industry to participate in the Territory`s recently launched tourism industry service standards program, also known as T.I.S.S. The British Virgin Islands tourism industry is located primarily on the islands of Anegada, Jost Van Dyke, Tortola and Virgin Gorda, but also includes several private resort islands and cays such as Cooper Island, Guana Island, Marina Cay, Necker Island and Peter Island.
The government of the British Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board have invested a large amount of time, energy and money into this exciting new initiative, said Chief Minister Smith in a letter to the BVI`s tourism industry, which is comprised of some the world`s most renown luxury hotel and private island resorts, as well as a yachting industry that caters to the global yachting community. I am confident the program and the implementation of higher, more comprehensive service standards, alongside professional training and measurement, will greatly enhance the BVI tourism product. This will in turn ensure an enhanced quality of life throughout the Territory.
The new service standards initiative was launched in April this year by the BVI Government, which contracted the Texas-based service solutions firm, The Freeman Group, to assist in implementing a program to enhance the quality of service delivered to customers and visitors staying in the British Virgin Islands.
The program was rolled out to the local industry in June during several meetings on all of the major BVI islands. In July, two members of the BVI Tourist Board completed an instructional techniques seminar in Florida, certifying them to run training workshops in the British Virgin Islands. In August, focus group meetings were held with industry officials to establish minimum destination service standards for the Territory.
In September, more introductory meetings were held on all of the major islands. A brochure about the program was released in October and in early November, the Standards of Performance Manuals, containing all of the minimum standards, as well as descriptions for all jobs within the hotel and restaurant sectors of the tourism industry, were finalized and distributed. BVI Tourist Board officials are now finalizing the content for the upcoming BVI Promises(TM) workshop, which is the customer service training component of the TISS program.
Chief Minister Smith encouraged business owners to familiarize their staff with the program and the brochure, which describes the different components of training and measurement. He said this program is for everyone in the Territory who comes in contact with visitors. I urge you to get involved and take advantage of the free certificate training that will be available early next year, he said.
As Minister of Tourism, Dr. Smith also commended those business owners who are at the forefront of the TISS program and for being among the first properties to show initiative by obtaining their Standards of Performance (SOP) Manuals.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
